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SUNY Downstate’s Dr. Joseph P. Merlino Named a Fellow Ambassador by the New York Academy
of Medicine

Brooklyn, NY – SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s Vice President for Faculty Affairs
and Professional Development Joseph P. Merlino, MD, MPA, has been named to the Fellows
Ambassador Program of the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Merlino, who is also professor
of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate, was among seven persons chosen this year from the
Academy’s prestigious membership of more than 2,000 experts from across the professions
affecting health.

The Fellows Ambassador Program was established in 2015 to increase the direct engagement
of Fellows with the research and policy staff of the Academy, and provide the public
with access to the wealth of knowledge that the Academy’s Fellows possess through
public communication and media interviews. The program offers several ambassador positions
each year through an application process open to the Academy’s Fellows.

“We are thrilled to continue the Fellows Ambassador program after a successful inaugural
year,” said Academy President Jo Ivey Boufford, MD. “The Fellows are the foundation
on which the Academy was built and the Fellows Ambassador program provides a unique
opportunity for the distinguished health professionals in our fellowship to share
their expertise and experience with the public.”

The Ambassadors were selected by the Academy based on their interest and ability as
spokespersons for their field of expertise, as well as for their ability to address
broad reaching topics in the news today such as urban health, prevention, and health
disparities. In addition to being available to media for comment and interviews, the
2016-17 Ambassadors will author commentaries, blog posts, and op-eds. The program’s
goal is to develop a critical mass of Fellows prepared to work with the media and
help the Academy become a valuable resource for media seeking health expertise to
inform the public.

Dr. Merlino has been a member of the SUNY Downstate faculty since 2009 and is an expert
in psychiatry and psychotherapy, disaster psychiatry, and physician and medical student
mental health. As founding vice president for faculty affairs and professional development,
he supports Downstate faculty members in their mission of training future generations
of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, scientists, and public health
practitioners. Dr. Merlino also holds appointments in the College of Health Related
Professions and School of Public Health at Downstate.

About The New York Academy of MedicineThe New York Academy of Medicine advances solutions that promote the health and well
beingof people in cities worldwide. Established in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine
continues to address the health challenges facing New York City and the world’s rapidly
growing urban populations. The Academy accomplishes this through its Institute for
Urban Health, home of interdisciplinary research, evaluation, policy and program initiatives;
its world class historical medical library and its public programming in history,
the humanities, and the arts; and its Fellows program, a network of more than 2,000
experts elected by their peers from across the professions affecting health. The Academy’s
current priorities are healthy aging, disease prevention, and eliminating health disparities.

About The New York Academy of Medicine FellowsThe Academy’s prestigious Fellows program, the foundation on which the Academy was
established in 1847, includes more than 2,000 individuals, elected by their peers,
from across the professions affecting health. Working collaboratively across disciplines
and specialties, in a tradition of honor and service, the Fellows are organized into
18 diverse sections and workgroups that address clinical and population health issues
facing individuals and communities in New York City and cities around the world.

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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center

SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the
United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside.
A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY
Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School
of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University
Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate
Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.

SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty
of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated
from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.